Roller skate



Oct. 20, 1936. 1.. MARX ROLLER SKATE Filed Sept. 13,- 1954 INVENTOR Lows Marx ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFEQE ROLLER SKATE Louis Marx, New York, 'N. Y.

Application September 13, 1934, Serial No. 743,807

Claims. 7 (Cl. 208-473) I This invention relates to roller skates, and more particularly to a roller skate provided with wheel guards.

The object of my invention is to generally improve roller skates. A particular object resides 5 in the provision of a roller skate having wheel guards protectively housing the wheels thereof. Further and most important objects of my invention center about the means for mounting the wheel guards on the skate and are to make possible a secure and dependable mounting for the wheel guards without undue complications or changes in the construction of the chassis of the roller skate.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the roller skate elements and their relation one to the other, as are hereinafter more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a roller skate embodying individual wheel guards;

Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 illustrates a modified form of individual wheel guard;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a roller skate having a single wheel guard for each truck or pair of wheels;

Fig. 5 is a partially sectioned side elevation thereof;

Fig. 6 is a partially sectioned front elevation of a modification; and

Fig. '7 is a partially sectioned side elevation of the same.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the skate comprises a toe plate l2 and a heel plate l4 arranged in overlapping or telescopic relation, as is usual to afford adjustment for length. The toe plate is provided with toe clamps l6 controlled by the customary left and right-hand screw l8, and further carries a depending wheel hanger 2B. Heel plate It is provided with a back flange 22 and a wheel hanger 24. A stationary bolt-like axle 26 passes through each of the wheel hangers 2B and 24. The wheels 28 are mounted for free rotation, preferably with ball bearings, on stationary wheel hubs or individual tubular axles 3B.

In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the upper portion of each of wheels 28 is protectively housed by an individual wheel guard 32. These wheel guards each comprise an arcuate wall 34 which is disposed around or over the wheel, an inner wall 36 located at the inner face of the wheel, and an outer wall 38 located at the outer face of the wheel. The spacing between inner and outer walls 36 and 38 is preferably made ceive the stationary axle 26.

equalto the length of stationary hubs 30. The

inner and outer walls 36 and 38 are perforated to receive axle 26. I

'The mode of assembly of the truck will now be evident from inspection of Fig. 2, for it is simply necessary to place the wheels with their stationary hubs within the wheel guards, and

to then pass the bolt-like axle 26 through one wheel and guard assembly, then through the' wheel hanger, and finally through theothe-r wheel and guard assembly. Nut 40 is then applied to the threaded end of bolt-like axle .26

structure of the skate. In fact, in many cases it is possible to add the wheel guards as an accessory to an already manufactured skate. It should be understood that it is not essential that stationary axle 26 comprise a single bolt extending entirely across the skate.- Each end of bolt 26 should be. thought of as a support which is mounted directly upon the wheel hanger. Each support, instead of receiving merely a wheel, now

receives a wheel guard and a wheel, and advan'-' tage is taken of the non-rotatability of the sup-port to further provide a fixed or non-rotating mounting for the Wheel guard.

If desired, the individual wheel guards 32 may be modified by omitting the inner walls 36. This is illustrated in Fig. 3, in which the wheel guard 42 comprises an arcuate or top wall 44 and an outer side wall 46. The wheel 28 with its stationary hub 30 is mounted on hanger 20 byaxle bolt 26, just as has heretofore been described, but in the present case the wheel guard is supported in place by outer wall 46 alone which is rigidly clamped between stationary hub 3B and nut 40.

Instead of using individual Wheel guards, that is, four guards when dealing with a four-wheeled skate, it is also possible to use two guards for the four wheels, each guard being as broad as the skate and protectively housing a pair of wheels. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, and referring to these figures it will be observed that wheel guard 48 comprises a broad arcuate wall 56 which extends across the full width of the skate, and outer side walls 52 which are located at the outer faces of the pair of wheels 28. As before, the outer walls 52 are perforated to re- The arcuate wall.50 is cut away at 54 to pass freely around the lower portion of the wheel hanger 26. This relation between the hanger and guard prevents rotation of the guard about the axle bolt should the axle bolt become loose.

It will be understood that to assemble the wheels and wheel guard on the skate, it is merely necessary to slip the wheel guard around the hanger, to then place the wheels with their stationary hubs within the wheel guard at each side of the hanger, whereupon the bolt 26 may be passed through the guard, the stationary hubs, and the hanger. By tightening nut 40, the parts of the assembly including the wheel guard are all rigidly locked in place.

If desired, the wheel guard, in addition to the support provided by the axle, may be supported by the skate chassis. With certain cheap skates, the axle may be rotatable rather than non-rotatable, and one method of applying my invention to such a skate is illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7 of the drawing. Referring to these figures, the wheel hanger 60 carries a riveted axle 62 on which are mounted wheels 64. The wheel guard 66 generally resembles that shown in Figs. 4 and 5, but if desired a part of the metal cut away at 68 to clear the hanger 68 may be utilized to form an arm 10 which is connected to a part of the skate and which forms additional means to effectually prevent oscillation of the wheel guard even though axle 62 is riveted loosely for free rotation.

Considered more specifically, hanger 60 comprises an upper stationary portion 12 which is secured directly to the plate M of the skate, and a lower part '16 which is oscillatable on upper part 12 by means of a pivot pin IS. A rubber cushion or pad 80 is inserted between the upper and lower parts of the hanger in accordance with conventional practice. The support arm H3 on wheel guard 66 is struck downwardly and perforated to receive the assembly or pivot pin 18.

It will be understood that an extra support arm such as the arm 10 may, if desired, be used with the form of the invention described in connection with Figs, 4 and 5 of the drawing, but I consider the support provided by the bolt-like wheel axle alone to be sufficient and preferable because of its simplicity. Furthermore, the relation between the hanger and the receptive opening therefor in the top of the guard itself acts to prevent any substantial movement of the guard about the axle.

It is believed that the mode of constructing and using my invention, as well as the many advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will further be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in preferred forms, many changes and modifications may be made in the structures disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A roller skate comprising toe and heel plates, wheel hangers mounted on said plates, axles passing through and supported by said hangers, four wheels mounted on said axles on opposite sides. of said hangers, and two broad wheel guards each substantially enclosing the upper portions of a pair of wheels, each of the wheel guards including an arcuate top wall disposed over a pair of wheels and a side wall on the outer side of each wheel of the pair, the top wall being partially cut away to clear the wheel hanger.

2. A roller skate comprising toe and heel plates, wheel hangers mounted on said plates, non-rotatable bolt-like axles passing through and supported by said wheel hangers, wheels mounted on said axles, and wheel guards substantially enclosing the upper portions of said wheels, said skate having four wheels and two wheel guards, each of said wheel guards having an arcuate wall extending across the full width of the skate and outer side walls disposed outside the enclosed pair of wheels, said arcuate wall being cut away to receive the Wheel hanger, and means securing said wheel guards to the skate, said means including the aforesaid axles and mating perforations in the side walls of the guards receiving said axles.

3. A roller skate comprising toe and heel plates, wheel hangers mounted on said plates, non-rotatable bolt-like axles passing through and supported by said wheel hangers, wheels mounted, on said axles, each of said wheels including a non-rotatable tubular hub portion on which said wheel is rotatable, and wheel guards substantially enclosing the upper portions of said wheels, said skate having four wheels and two wheel guards, each of said wheel guards having an arcuate wall extending across the full width of the skate and outer side walls disposed outside the enclosed pair of wheels, said arcuate wall being cut away to receive the wheel hanger, and means securing said wheel guards to the skate, said means including the aforesaid axles and mating perforations in the side walls of the guards receiving said axles, said assembly of hanger, hubs and guard being drawn tightly together and held in fixed position by said boltlike axle.

4. A roller skate comprising toe and heel plates, wheel hangers mounted on said plates, axles passing through and supported by said wheel hangers, wheels mounted on said axles, and wheel guards substantially enclosing the upper portions of said wheels, said skate having four wheels and two wheel guards, each of said wheel guards comprising an arcuate top wall extending for the width of the skate and two outer side walls at the outer sides of the pair of wheels, said arcuate wall being cut away to receive the wheel hanger, and means securing said wheel guards to the skate, said means including the aforesaid axles and mating perforations in the side walls of the guards receiving said axles, and additional means connecting said guard to said skate to prevent rotation of said guard about the axle.

5. A roller skate comprising toe and heel plates, wheel hangers mounted on said plates, axles passing through and supported by said Wheel hangers, wheels mounted on said axles, and wheel guards substantially enclosing the upper portions of said wheels, said skate having four wheels and two wheel guards, each of said wheel guards comprising an arcuate top wall extending for the width of the skate and two outer side walls at the outer sides of the pair of wheels, said arcuate wall being cut away to receive the wheel hanger, a portion of the cutaway metal being bent to form an auxiliary support, and means securing said wheel guards to the skate, said means including the aforesaid axles and mating perforations in the side walls of the guards receiving said axles, and means securing said auxiliary support to the wheel hanger.

LOUIS MARX. 

